


Skrish Towne

by lextenou



Series: Manifest Gedanes [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone Is Alive, F/F, Grounder Raven Reyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 07:10:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11504313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lextenou/pseuds/lextenou
Summary: Gotta live, gotta live, gotta live in Skrish Towne. Raven kom Skaikru continues guarding Abby kom Skaikru on their journey through Trikru lands.





	Skrish Towne

Raven kom Trikru ran a soft polishing cloth along the lines of her sword, removing the last of the burrs left behind by sharpening. The increased numbers of skirmishes which they found themselves in had regrettably led to a greater number of nicks and tangs in her blade. She'd have to make sure to get it hammered out when they got back to Polis. As much as she didn't mind stopping by Nek, the smithy didn't do the kind of work she wanted.

She raised her head and gazed out the window of the guesting house. After having arrived, Abby had pleaded for a few hours rest prior to continuing. Despite the pressures she felt weighing heavily upon her, she knew it would do neither of them any good to run themselves to exhaustion just yet. To be sure, she had the sneaking suspicion that the crafty woman had pleaded for these hours not on her own behalf, but for Raven. 

Her hand pressed against the freshly wrapped and poulticed wound at her side, hidden beneath her patched clothing. A spot of raw redness had encircled it when they arrived, but Abby had declared herself satisfied with its progress when she probed at it with demanding fingers. Raven's glare had done nothing to deter the annoyance of her wound, and so distracted had she been that she inhaled sharply at the intrusion of the cool poultice upon her skin. The warm edges of the wound had greedily sung along her nerves at the touch and she grimaced to remember the worry that Abby had not spoken. 

It had been some time since she had seen such furrows marring the wide and open expanses of Abby's gaze. To be fair, being a gona did not exactly lend itself to a life of quiet servitude. Neither too did the life of the coalition's best healer. 

She set down the cloth and examined the line of her sword. The worst of the battle weariness had been eradicated from its lines and she smiled to see it. She slid it into its scabbard with a quiet snick and set about tidying the contained mess she left behind. In short order, she was unrolling a parchment and turning her hand to drawing the area they had traversed. The jagged lines of the mountains bisected the forest at irregular intervals, with the gullies and washes notated with precision. The winding line of the river entered the landscape, its current route arching toward Nek with benevolence. She frowned at the revealed tracks between Nek and the village they had run from scant days before. 

Should the attack continue in the path which it had been taking, they would have been overrun within hours of their departure. That neither they nor Nek had seen further hide nor hair of these splita that had invaded her homeland... 

Raven cast her mind back and the charcoal touched the parchment once more, this time recreating the briefly glimpsed clan markings that had adorned the attackers pauldrons. Odd and curiously reminiscent of the sigil that designated Delfikru, the additional markings indicated that it was either a splinter group, or more worringly, a new clan altogether. Either way, news of this discovery must make its way to Polis with all due haste. 

With a sigh, she rose and moved to the cot where Abby lay resting quietly. It had not been long, and had been far too long. Duty weighed heavily on her shoulders as she reached over and gently shook the doctor awake.

"We need to go."

Abby blinked herself awake and squinted up at the hovering warrior. A brief nod indicated she recognized the inherent urgency that laced through Raven's words. "Have you figured out who they are?"

Raven grimaced, her hand sliding down Abby's forearm. The touch sent a shiver through the prone woman. "Nothing good."

Abby raised herself on one elbow, her free hand raising to caress the side of Raven's face. "Are you rested enough to travel?"

Raven gave her a grim smile and pressed a kiss to the palm that cupped her face. "I'll be fine. Let's meet with the leader and get on our way. They'll need to be ready to send word if the splita do come this way."

She stood, extending a hand down to her companion. Gently callused fingers wrapped around her own and Abby stood, extending her arms to wrap around the tense warrior. For a long moment, they stood and Raven could not help but to feel a sense of peace fill her chest at the touch.

Meeting the leader of Nek did not take long. Heavily scarred from battles long past, the broad chested man listened to them with a quiet attentiveness so often lacking from those untried in battle. He nodded to them and spoke briefly.

"It shall be as you say. Should those bearing this mark come, word shall be sent to Polis with the winds." He bowed his head to them. "Your warning is welcomed in the spirit in which it is given." He extended a hand to Raven, and she clasped his forearm in the traditional warrior's greeting. "Tell Indra that I remain her sekon in this and all things."

Raven dipped her head in acknowledgement.

The horses which they were provided had been packed with replacements for the provisions they had lost during their flight. Though normally a leisurely three day ride, it would be necessary to press on with as much haste as possible - something which made Raven deeply grateful for the powerful animals that she and Abby now sat astride. 

"We will stop when the light dies." Raven cast an eye over the sky, reading the weather and coming hours with a measured eye. "Even with the attack, we will do better keeping to the established paths."

Abby grunted her agreement, her steed shifting enough to shift her in her seat. "Think we can make it in two days?"

Raven shrugged. "It will be tight, but we should be able to do so."

Abby shot her a grin. "Tight, huh?"

A vicious bite to the inside of her cheek stopped Raven's blush in its tracks. "I know, usually I'm saying that about you." The choked laughter next to her brought a relieved smile to her lips. "Are you truly pleased with your daughter's choice?"

It was a long moment before a reply came. When it did, it was contemplative, thoughtful in a way that she had not heard before. "When she first came to me and suggested it, I hated it. I wasn't sure what she was thinking in even coming up with the idea. But I'd been the one who said they could be here, I was the one who pushed for them to have the possibility of life on the ground. I was the one who pushed my daughter to go from a girl to a woman, and it was in doing that she found her way as a leader."

"Wanheda."

A soft, mirthless laugh greeted the title that had been laid upon shoulders so young. "Yes. Our lives are a series of choices, and hers led her to be a damned better leader than I was. By taking on what she did, she showed that she was willing to stand up and say, no, these people are my responsibility."

"Her legend is spoken of in hushed whispers, as is the Commanders."

"Killing that many people in such a way tends to cause that." Abby shifted in her seat, the horse releasing a huff at the adjustment. "It wasn't until I saw her in the council room, holding her own that I saw who she had truly become. What the crucible of this land had forged her into." Abby looked up to the sky. "If we'd stayed up there, she would never have been allowed to be the person she is today." Her gaze dropped back down and met Raven's. "I would not have chosen to seal the alliance with a joining. But I am not my daughter. And all I can hope now is to grow to learn who she is as an adult, as Wanheda, and as the hope of our future."

Raven cleared her throat. "So it's not entirely terrible to have Heda as a daughter-in-law?"

Abby released a short, sharp bark of laughter, its echo causing a few scattered birds to rise from the trees and fly into the distance, their wings spread to capture any hint of an updraft.


End file.
